The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-07-15
KALAKAUA'S LAST LuAu.
A Royal Banquet In the Sandwich
Islands.

company and hlled the open space lnSlue the
tables, bearing long wands, set with punches
of variegated feathers, with which they
famed the guests and waved away the in
truding mosquitoes. All these maidens were
dressed in white and, like every Hawaiian
in holiday time, wore about their necks and
heads "leis'' of fragrant flowers.
After an address Of welcome by the king,
we are desired to sit down and fall to. We
prepare to do so, when-hellol where are the
chairs? There are none, and if any were
provided, what in the world would you do
with them at table that is raised not more
than six inches from the ground? We look
at the king. He has curled his legs up un-
der him, and is seated tailor-wise upon the
mating that is spread upon the earth around
the festive board. We do in Honolulu as the
Ionoluluians do, squat ourselves like so
many Turks about the table. and at the close
of the feast find all our legs asleep, and ex.
perence the sensation Of having no feet
whatever. This Oriental and unaccustomed
attitude being at last assumed, we look about
at the viands. They seem to consist chiefly
of raw fish and piles OF uninviting boiled
leaves, interspersed with seaweed, and live
shrimps, which are cheerfully wrlggllng and
appetite taking a sudden congo; we only
came to look on anyway, we say; we never
take anything to eat in the middle of the af-
ternoon. A waiter brings us dish. with
the eRamberlain's compliments; we look In
to 1t and See raw crab lying ON bed OF
glistening sea-weed. IAN excellent appe-
tier" says the Waiter. We pass" on the
unc0oked crab, bur-try the sea-weed. Con-
centrated iodine. with a dash OF chlorine,
and an infused taste OF sour fermentation!
L. d.. Coo nj naV
A draught of the foaming liquid relieves us
Of the taste of this excellent appetizer"
Sea-weed, forscOthi 1t is nothing less than
sauer-kraut with the delirium tremens. A
pile of the boiled leaves before us Is deity
opened by an attendant, and behold de-
licious baked mnllet, king of edible fishes,
partaking Of which We Ssse.are that there Is
some merit in Hawaiian cookery nss<ssa s.2lisa
Beside each plate stands large calabash Of
poi, the piece de resistance OF every na-
tive repast. 1t is made from the root Of the
taro-an esculent Of the Aurum family
which is ground into flour, beaten into dough
with stone pestles, mixed with water and
allowed to ferment. 1t is of faded laven
der color and looks like blll-poster's paste
tastes like it, too, when the bill-poster has
been careless and allowed it to sour. There
is mild flavor of mouldiness about ''poi'
which is much admired by natives, but
which my palate Is too little educated TO ap-
preciate. IL is made in three forms, which
wary Only III COUclStcuCJ, anu dic CAPlCo-
sively described as ''one-fnger," "two-fn-
ger" and 'three-fnger poi" The "one-fin-
ger" grade Is the thickest, the "three-finger"
the thinnest; to eat the latter and not smear
ones self and ones neighbors is to attain
the height of treneher ability in Hawaii. 1t
may fie unnecessary to explain the mysteries
Of ''poi" eating any further-in the present
instance the honored adage that fingers
were made before forks, is disregarded, and
the latter artificial utensils are employed.
We make but little impression on our Gala
bashes of ''p0r'-even with the assistance of
dried fish, and a pungent sauce made OF the
candle-nut (which tastes like burned al
mOnds, and continued so to taste four days
after the "luau" is only memory the ma
tional dish remained insipid. Others, better
endowed by nature, OF with superior advan-
tages in the way of gastronomie education,
seemed to relish it hugely. l was filled with
admiration at the exploits Of a worthy native
dame near by. who put away three quart
calabashes OF II in an awful and mysterious
manner. poi" is undoubtedly nutritious.
The taro plant, from which it is made, will
support a thousand men to the acre, and
taro field containing only forty square feet
Will keep man for year, poi and the
taro-root, baked or boiled, being his chief
food.
Another mass of boiled leaves, filling a
large platter is opened, and disclosed-pig.
Charles Lamb himself would have rejoiced
at seeing this Hawaiian modification Of his
favorite dish; the Hawaiians would make
niche for him in their Pantheon If they had
ever beard of his gloriication OF their most
esteemed edible. The pig is almost fetch
in Hawaii; he is credited with supernatural
sagacitv: is sacrificed as an Offering Of pOpu-
lar avail to Pele, when that unpleasant god
dess becomes obstreperous, Is accounted,
when given by man to man, as the most deli
cate Expression of friendship, and is the
choicest expression Of love and fealty that
the subject can offer to his king His bak-
ing is as solemnly considered and carried
out as any sacriticial rite. He Is despatched,
with all possible tenderness, after a gener-
GUS diet Of "poi:" his incipient brstles are
delicately removed, and his internal ma
chinery dished up as particularle agreeable
bonnie bOuche; he is washed and cleansed
and laid out white and innocent for the fire.
A hole Is then dug In the ground and
lined with glistening banana and ''t' leaves;
red-hot stones are placed therein and
others fill the interior of the pig He
is placed upon a layer OF leaves, two or three
pals of water are turned upon him, vegeta-
bles and seaweed are packed about him, the
earth is replaced and he Is left to steam and
bake until the time set for the "luau" arrives.
Delicious Is he when served up at the table,
as pure and sayory piece OF meat as any
man would wish to sit down to. We try the
pig and pronounce him very good. Another
sort of meat comes down to us from the
kings territory-delicately assorted of fat
and lean, smoking hot, tasting like very rich
boiled beef, but with peculiar, entirely un-
familiar, very agreeable flavor. We send
back thanks for his majesty's kind atten-
tion will his majesty favor us with the name
of this new delicacyP His majesty, smiling
graciously, initiates the barking Of dog,
and waves his hand reassuringly. Royalty
must have its little j0ke we humor 1t by
laughing heartily. Very good. | faith! ha!
ha! Our neighbors join with US In the merri-
ment occasioned by His Majesty's witticisA.
Why, hang it ALL they are laughing at us !
The waiter brings the dish-dog. for ducat
dog The chamberlain explains. This is no
ordinary ''yellow dog" he says, but poi
dog. What is ''Doi" dog? 1t Is one, he
goes ON, that Is taken out Of the world of
dogdom directly after 1t is weaned, and fed
on pei until 1t Is so fat that, when ii is
standing still, you can in no wise determine
in which direction 1t will go when IL moves.
This result achieved, it is treated like the
pig above described, and Is esteemed by all
table oracles in Hawaii as worthy compan-
ion dish to him. We look again at the plat
ter; that is surely pigs head that lies upon
it? Truly yes-it Is common to defer to the
prejudice Of strangers by setting dog before
them with pigs head attached to him in
stead OF his own. Pig or dog-you may toss
up to decide which you have eaten when you
return from Hawaiian "luau."
After the rOtt du chien-Of which we de-
clined to taste further, lest we should ac-
quire taste for 1t and shock our friends
WIcu We IcdClltu HOilt ny inoictinB Ou nav
ing a cut of cold puppy always on the side
board-come various connections of cocoa
nut, followed by the more civilized incl
dents of watermelons, fruit Of all sorts, cake
and ice cream. During the repast the band
and singers have been hard at work outside,
and in the intervals of melody, speeches of
dull import have been made by distinguished
guests. After all was done the king led the
way TO the cOcoanut trees, where several ma
tives were assembled to climb to their tops
for prize. One young fellow surpassed all
the others. At the word, up he went in con-
vulsive. frog like jumps, cinging mysteri-
ousiy to the smooth bark with fingers and
toes. Twenty-Five seconds to the tuft of
| leaves at the top, eighty feet from the
ground he picks nut and drops it; in fif-
teen seconds more he was on the grass again
making in forty seconds trip that
should have thought cleyerly traversed il he
had taken half an hour for it. Then more
music, some chat, farewell bow TO the king
and home by the edge of the sea just as the
| sun was setting. Later, to bed and to
| dreams Of dogs climbing c0cOanut trees and
| throwing the fruit at one; of gigantic crabs
| waltzing with cutie fish Qor these, too. we
| had at the "luau'D; of google eyed fish that
| had somehow got into the kings clothes, and
| other such enliyening visions. The next day
| in bed to give the cOcOanut conc0ctions and
| the seaweed and the candlenut-not to men,
tion the dog-a chance to digest, which they
| wilfully refused to improve. Thus incom-
| pletely have | sketched the incidents and eff
fects Of the great "luau" of King Kalakaua
/ In the nraSpnt wear of Orooa frbasa faocfc